Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month - Why April? 

The 20th Century is often referred to as the “Century of Genocide.” Unfortunately, this trend has continued into the 21st Century. Many of these genocides either began in April or include significant events which occurred in April.

The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center and area educators work with students to raise awareness about these genocides and help them remember those who were lost as a result of “man’s inhumanity to man.” To this end, HHREC sponsors an annual student contest.

HHREC 2023 Student Contest Awards; Participating Schools and Winning Students 

Congratulations to the winners of our annual Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month Student Contest. HHREC received 85 submissions from schools located in Westchester County, NY, from around the U.S, and from Canada. These schools included:

• Rotolo Middle School in Batavia, Illinois
• Union County Vocational Technical High School, New Jersey
• Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Connecticut
• South Kamloops Secondary School, British Columbia, Canada
• John Jay High School, Katonah-Lewisboro, New York
• Byram Hills High School, Armonk
• Woodlands Middle/High School, Greenburgh, New York

The winning students:

Grades 7 & 8

First Place

Lev Schlamann – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art, “In Memory of the Holodomor

Cailey Salzman – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art, “The Reflection” commemorating the Armenian Genocide

Izzy Leslie – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art – “A Memorial for the Holodomor Genocide

Second Place

Meghan Burke – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia Illinois; Original Art – “The Rwandan Genocide Memorial”

Will Dickerson – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art – “Shattered Glass” commemorating the Cambodian Genocide

Barbara Macias – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Poetry – “Darfurian Genocide Haikus”

Third Place

Michael Slattery – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art – “100 Days, 800,000 Deaths” commemorating the Rwandan Genocide

Nadia Semanision – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art – “Armenian Genocide Memorial Garden”

Sophia Chin – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art – “Killing Fields, Killing People” commemorating the Cambodian Genocide

Honorable Mention

Annishiya Pulikkottil Sam – Woodlands Middle/High School – Greenburgh, New York
Original Art – “Breaking the Divide” commemorating the Holocaust

Paige Cox – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art – “100 Days” commemorating the Rwandan Genocide

Malena Diamond – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art – “Rohingya Refugees”

Lylah Jakubiak – Rotolo Middle School – Batavia, Illinois; Original Art – “Burdening Weight” commemorating the plight of the Rohingya

Grades 9 & 10

First Place

Renee Chin – Greenwich High School - Fairfield County, Connecticut; Original Digital Art – “Lost Identity” commemorating the Rwandan Genocide

Second Place

Murphy Bennett – Greenwich High School – Fairfield County, Connecticut; Original Art/Collage – “The Rwandan Divide”

Third Place

Remi Aaron – John Jay High School – Westchester County, New York; Original Art – “Tree of Life, Life of Hope” commemorating the Holocaust

Honorable Mention

Heidi Farnum – Greenwich High School – Fairfield County, Connecticut; Original Art/Collage – “The Children Lost Again” commemorating Indigenous Children in North American Residential Schools”

Grades 11 & 12

First Place

Elias McDonald – South Kamloops Secondary School – British Columbia, Canada; Original Art – “Never Seen (Again) commemorating the Indigenous People of Turtle Island

Abigail Castellanos – Union County Vocational Technical High School, New Jersey; Original Art – “Roses of Reflection” commemorating homosexuals targeted during the Holocaust

Second Place

Steph Tynan – South Kamloops Secondary School – British Columbia, Canada; Original Art – “The Beauty of a Mushroom” commemorating the Holocaust

Third Place

Pauline Willemart – South Kamloops Secondary School – British Columbia, Canada; Original Art – “250,000 Faces” commemorating the victims of sexual assault during the Rwandan Genocide

Honorable Mention

McKenna Lien – South Kamloops Secondary School – British Columbia, Canada; Original Art – “May Death Take Better Care of You” commemorating the Uyghur Cultural Genocide

Wren Edwards – South Kamloops Secondary School – British Columbia, Canada; Original Art – “Ihor Novosilets Monument” commemorating the Holodomor

These students submitted an original project in visual arts, poetry, music, or other media of artistic expression that commemorates some aspect of a genocide which has occurred in the 20th or 21st centuries, including for example the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, the Bosnian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide, the Genocide in Darfur, and many others. Please see World Without Genocide (www.worldwithoutgenocide.org) for a complete list.

All projects were evaluated by the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center’s Co-Director of Education, Julie Scallero and Student Programming Coordinators, Jeanne Claire Cotnoir and Debbie Minchin.

HHREC has donated on the winners’ behalf to Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Their mission is to advance change in America by ensuring equitable access to nutritious food for all in partnership with food banks, policymakers, supporters, and the communities they serve.

HHREC Student Contest Description:

Students are invited to create and submit an original project in visual arts, poetry, music, or other media of artistic expression that commemorates some aspect of a genocide which has occurred in the 20th or 21st centuries.

Examples include the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, the Bosnian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide, the Genocide in Darfur, and many others. Please see World Without Genocide for a complete list.

Donations 

HHREC donates on the winners’ behalf to the Afya Foundation, a Westchester-based organization. Afya provides an environmentally-sensitive, community-oriented solution to help address the critical shortage of medical supplies in underserved communities around the world. Currently, they are working in partnership with US-Ukraine-Foundation and others to support the Ukrainian medical community and refugees seeking aid. Afya’s Disaster Response Hub has been preparing wound care, surgical equipment, and biomedical equipment to medical providers to ensure they have the supplies they need to care for wounded soldiers and civilians.